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Major Alexa deal will bring Amazon services into more cars

Amazon and its personal assistance service Alexa are partnering with HERE Technologies to create a new connected mobility service powerhouse. Alexa will integrate with HERE's navigation and location services to offer what the two companies are calling a "true voice-first-navigation experience." Alexa will come pre-integrated with HERE navigation on-demand, which the automakers can then enable, which should help cut down on development time. One of the biggest features from this partnership is how directions could be offered and delivered using HERE's Open Location Platform (OLP). Currently, the OLP uses data from several car manufacturers to provide insights into real-time location and traffic. But on Alexa, this could be used to provide directional context. For example, Alexa could say, "Turn right after [such-and-such a building]" rather than just, "Turn right." Amazon has been testing the automotive waters throughout the past decade. Its home-based Alexa-enabled devices are already offered with connections to several manufacturers. To various degrees of integration, it can already pair with Ford, Genesis, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai and BMW vehicles. At the end of 2018, Amazon took things a step further when it introduced the Echo Auto, a Bluetooth-connected Alexa assistant device that can be physically kept in a car. Currently only available by invitation (its production and distribution have been delayed), the $25 device is essentially a voice service that works together with smartphones and connects to a car's speakers. Users can command it to do a variety of things, including playing music, setting navigation, opening the garage door, finding local stores, making calls, setting reminders, and thousands of other "skills." According to The Verge, nearly 1 million people have already ordered the device. Some (well, probably few) may know HERE Technologies from its maps on Windows Phones. We all know how that turned out, though. Today, HERE has expanded into a multi-function suite that is available in multiple mediums, including many automotive applications. HERE Automotive's connected vehicle services include real-time traffic, parking, weather, fuel prices, hazard warnings, traffic sign integration, and even EV charging stations. These all incorporate and extend the use of HERE's location and tracking programming. HERE is already partnered with BMW, Audi, Daimler, Intel, Mobileye, NVIDIA, and has investments from Bosch, Continental and Pioneer.

Monsoon rains disrupt production for Ford, BMW in India

Even modern production techniques can be stymied by Mother Nature. This was demonstrated most recently in India, as torrential, monsoon rains caused a deluge that forced multiple automakers to suspend production. Ford, Renault, and BMW all halted work at their Indian facilities around the southern city of Chennai, also known as Madras. The annual rains disrupted public transport around the city, preventing employees from making the trek into city's factories. According to Automotive News, Chennai saw 48 inches of precipitation last month alone, which is more than Seattle, WA saw in all of 2014. While Ford and BMW closed things down for all of December 1, Renault just cancelled a pair of shifts at its Chennai factory. This is the second time in the past month that automakers in southeast India have been forced to stop production due to severe flooding, and things aren't likely to improve. According to The Weather Channel, forecasts call for thunderstorms over five of the next seven days, while the chance of rain won't fall below 80 percent until December 8. Ford, Renault, and BMW are far from the only automakers that could stand to be impacted by the rains. The city has been nicknamed "The Detroit of India" for its extreme automotive presence. Daimler, Hindustan, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Nissan all own factories in the region. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing BMW Ford Renault

Ford Focus was best-selling nameplate in 2012

Last August, Ford made a few waves by claiming that the Ford Focus was, at that point, the top-selling car in the world. The automaker failed to account for variations of the Toyota Corolla wearing a different name (such as the Auris and Matrix), however. With official data from Polk coming in now, Ford is able to say that the Focus was, in fact, the best-selling nameplate in the world last year.
Using new-car registrations (which doesn't factor in fleet sales), the Polk data shows that a total of more than one million Focus models around the world. Strong sales in the US and China have led to a 16 percent increase in year-over-year Focus sales from 2011 that helped to create even more of a gap between it and the second-best global seller, the Corolla.
Ford also had the Fiesta and F-Series listed in the top 10 for worldwide nameplates, but what's even more impressive is the fact that the F-Series is only sold in North America. Scroll down to see the list (compiled by Ford using Polk data) of the top global sellers last year and a press release from Ford.